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Bangladeshs envoy to the UN Masud Bin Momen said during the UN meeting that "a situation was unfolding" in his country "involving armed assailants". Suspected Islamic State militants stormed a restaurant in Dhakas high-security Gulshan diplomatic area last night and held many people hostag

Bangladeshs envoy to the UN Masud Bin Momen said during the UN meeting that "a situation was unfolding" in his country "involving armed assailants".

Suspected Islamic State militants stormed a restaurant in Dhakas high-security Gulshan diplomatic area last night and held many people hostage, including foreigners.

He said institutional gaps in the UN system to address the underlying causes of terrorism must be addressed and corrected. He said Bangladeshs counter-terrorism efforts included working with educators, religious leaders and civil society to reach youth and other groups.

Pointing out that currently there are nearly 40 entities under the UN involved in different ways in the fight against terrorism, Akbaruddin suggested it would be useful to have a senior official or an entity to coordinate the entire range of activities and bring more focus to such activities.

"We feel that this would be useful to convey a clear signal that counter terrorism has a significant place on the UN agenda. It would show that we recognise the urgent and serious nature of the threat posed by terrorism and that we are ever more determined in our intention to take on this threat collectively," he said.

Though the resolution The United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy Review, the Assembly affirmed the importance of integrated and balanced implementation of all four pillars of the Strategy: addressing conditions conducive to the spread of terrorism; preventing and combating terrorism; building the capacity of States and strengthening the role of the United Nations; and ensuring respect for human rights and compliance with the rule of law.

Akbaruddin said it is essential to reflect the "determination of the international political will" through the counter-terrorism forum at the United Nations to join hands to counter terrorism more effectively.

He said while individual nations take measures to counter the threat of terrorism, at the forum of UN?s counter- terrorism strategy the international community has been making efforts to see whether it can demonstrate a collective political will to stand up to the terrorists "whose networks are increasingly global in nature, not restrained by any boundaries."

With the terror threat growing dramatically in the last couple of years, Akbaruddin said it has become ever-more necessary for the international community to show it will be united in taking up this challenge.

Referring to the "heinous attacks" in Turkey, Somalia, Afghanistan and Kenya over the last few days, he said they are stark reminders that the international community must increase its cooperation in tackling the scourge.

The resolution urged all UN member states, as well as the world body, to unite against violent extremism and called upon nations to strengthen international, regional, subregional and bilateral cooperation in countering the threat posed by foreign terrorist fighters, to engage with domestic financial institutions and share information on terrorist financing risks, and to adopt legal measures for the prohibition of incitement to commit terrorist acts. PTI YAS ZH

This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.

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